Improvement in locomotive fire-boxes



GMW. TILION.

y:,eccusfxoTIvE FIRE-Box. No. 174,091l `Patented Feb. ze, 187e.

ivrrirfn 'STATES 'PATENT Urraca,

MORRIS SELLERS, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT lN LOCOMOTIVE FIRE-BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 174,097, dated February 29, 1876; applicationled June 10, 1875.

To all whom t may concern i Beit known that I, GEORGE W. TILToN, of Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have inventedV or discovered a new and useful Improvement in Locomotive Fire-Boxes 5 and I do hereby declare the following` to be a full, clear, concise and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, making a part of this specification, in whichlike letters indicating like parts- Figure lis a longitudinal sectional elevation of the rear end of a locomotive-boiler and fire-box illustrative of my improvement. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a top or plan view of the rire-box detached; and Fig. 4 shows the firebox in perspective.

My improvement relates to the construction of l the ordinary tire-box of locomotive or other similar boilers, the top or crown-sheet of which is rectangular in form and horizontal or nearly so, and is united along its rectangular edge by a line of riveting to the side andend sheets. Sucha crown-sheet, in order to withstand the strain to which it issubjeet in use, and be as durable as possible, has been made with curved or arching crown-bars and tie-rods or braces, which construction involves great expense, and is objectionable on account of the difticulty ot' removing `sedimentary deposits and crusts, which aceum ulate under the crown-bars and around and between the tie-rods or braces. Such crown-sheets have also, with a view to increased strength and rigidity, been corrugated, but in such cases some part ofthe upper corrugated surface lay below the riveted edges of the crown sheet, so that each depression formed by the corrugations constituted a trough, in which sediment gathered and incrustation took place with the usual result of the destruction of the .crown-sheet. By my improvement, I make the crown-sheet of the `{ire-box corrugated over the greater part of its otherwise horizontal surface, but with the 'lower parts or troughs on the upper surface even with or a little above the straight edges, by which a riveted joint is made with the sides ofthe box. In this way I securea maximum of stiffness and rigidity, dispense with the necessary use of crown-bars, and leave the ends of the troughs open, so that by a free circulation ot the water therein little or no sediment will be deposited or incrustation take place, and Whatever is so deposited or formed may, on account of' ease of access, be readily removed. To make the side sheets eqally strong, l also eorrugate them, as shown and described.

ln the drawing, B represents a locomotiveboiler, with the usual lues b, and dome B. The fire-box D is of the general form and size commonly used in American locomotives. It is made with the usual door d, and ilueholes for the fluesb, and is to be provided with the usual means for supporting the fuel and regulating combustion; Thecrown-sheet a is made with a series of corrugations, a', raised above its surface, and extending over the whole or the greater part of its otherwise horizontal surface, but witha plain or flanged edge for riveting to the side and end sheets. Between eachtwo raised corrugations thus made there will bev a trough or depression, c, the bottom of' which will be even with or a little above the riveting-edge of the sheet, and the ends of which will be open, so that a free circulation of water may take place lengthwise along such troughs, whereby the tendency oie-sediment to deposit, or of incrustation to take place, will be largely, if not wholly, obviated; and as I thus make a crown-sheet so strong and rigid that crownbars and their connections can be wholly dispensed with, I keep the top of the tire-box practically unobstructed, so that such sediment and crust as are deposited and formed thereon may be easily removed every time the locomotive goes ofi' duty, it' so desired. The tire-box thus made is attached bythe usual hangers e and other fastenings. In order to make the side and end sheets equally strong and durable, I also corrugate them with any desired arrangement of corrugation, g g. I make no claim to the dome-shaped tire-box, made with a continuous corrugation over the arch of the dome and down the sides of the box. My improvement does not relate at all to that classA of hre-boxes, but only to those in which the crown-sheet has a corrugated body, horizontal or nearly so, and a .straight riveting-edge, with the bottoms of the corrugated depressions level With or a. little Itbove the riveting-edges.

I claim as my inventionl. In a rectangular [ire box, D, a corrugated crown-sheet, a, having an uncorrugated riveting-edge, the pla-ne of such edge being even with or below the depressions o, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The rectangular {ire-box D having the eorugated crownsheet a, as described, and corrugated side and end sheets, as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto setmy hand.

GEORGE W. TILTON.

Witnesses:

MORRIS SELLERS, WILLIAM S. MILLIGAN. 

